'Last Five Years' -- the beginning and end of love

Joe Meyers

Updated 12:33 pm, Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Long Wharf Theatre is closing its 2013-2014 season with the Jason Robert Brown musical "The Last Five Years." Here at a rehearsal are (left to right) director Gordon Edelstein, performers Katie Rose Clarke and Adam Halpin, and musical director James Sampliner.
Photo: Contributed Photo

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Since it debuted off-Broadway in 2002, the Jason Robert Brown musical "The Last Five Years" has never enjoyed an extended run in New York City, but it has acquired a huge cult of admirers.

The bittersweet, two-character musical about a failed marriage has been produced by regional theaters all over the country, it had a very well-received off-Broadway revival last year, and a movie version starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan will open later this year.

Clarke starred on Broadway as Glinda in "Wicked," and Halpin has worked on "Rent" and another cult-musical-in-the-making, "Dogfight." "Every time I hear it, I love it more," Clarke said of Brown's score in a recent phone interview. "It's just fantastic writing -- there's something new, something different each time you listen to the songs."

"Jason knows how to write point of view -- the struggles and heartaches of his characters," Halpin said of the distinctive tones of voice in the songs written for his character, young novelist Jamie Wellerstein, and the songs that are sung by Jamie's girlfriend/wife, Cathy Hyatt, who is trying to make it as an actress.

The unusual structure of "The Last Five Years" adds to the emotional power of the piece, with Cathy's side of the story starting at the end of the marriage and moving backward in time. We meet Jamie just after he's fallen for Cathy and follow him through the couple's highs and lows.

The only time the two lovers "meet" on stage is at their wedding, when the two storylines briefly crisscross.

"We both love the show and rehearsals have been going very well. ... I think Jason has created people almost everyone can relate to. You get invested in their lives because it's so intimate," Halpin said of the way Brown shows the complexities of modern romance and marriage.

Clarke appreciates the chance to play such a full-bodied character in the context of a musical.

"Of course, there are different genres, but acting is acting," she said of not making arbitrary distinctions between roles in musicals and the non-musical work she has done. (Clarke's last appearance at Long Wharf was in the Craig Lucas play "Prayer for My Enemy.")

Even in the midst of the very elaborate Broadway production of "Wicked," Clarke said playing Glinda was a challenge, both in terms of singing and acting the part. "You can't hide in the midst of that spectacle," she stressed. "(The scenic design) is just used to tell the story ... it's just a different technique."

"(`Last Five Years') might not have found commercial success (in its initial New York production), but I know that I was floored the first time I heard the recording in college -- his stuff really speaks to young people," Halpin said of the composer who has a new musical on Broadway ("The Bridges of Madison County") and another one waiting in the wings ("Honeymoon in Vegas").

Halpin thinks it makes total sense that director Edelstein -- who has built a reputation for definitive productions of classic American dramas by Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams -- would be drawn to "The Last Five Years" for one of his rare forays into musical theater.

"It's very much like a play that you can dig into, similar to O'Neill and Williams. The most important scenes in the life of a couple. I think it's one of the shows that blurs the lines because it has more depth than some musicals," Halpin said.